Hand truck



H. SIEGAL HAND TRUCK May 2, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 6, 1946 //v VEN TOR HARRY S/EGAL A 7'70R/VEV y 1950 H. SIEGAL 2,506,471

HAND TRUCK Filed Sept. 6, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 r A/ 96 97 9 /N|/ENTOR HARRY S/EGAL 7 Z 4i 1 I A TTORNEY Patented May 2, 1950 STATES PATENT OFFICE :nzmn moon Harry Siegal; Ghicago,.lll. Application September 6, rm, sum-N0. 695171- This invention relates to: containenhandling devices such as hand trucks and isconcerned more particularly with a device of' this kind adapted: tomove filled. upright openahe'adl barrels :and: the like, with the, level of liquid near the top, from place to. place.

It is an object of my invention to provide a hand trucle on which varioussized open-topped .liquidsfilledbarrels. be. neadily loaded: and from whichthebarrellmay be readily unloaded without spilling the liquid.

Another object is to providera ,handltruc'k which isv especially adapted for the expeditious and eflicient-l'oading', carrying, transporting, and unloadingro'f an uncovered'barrel containing liquid", the

level" of the liquid being, substantially atthe top means whereby a. barrel carried; thereby may be readily unlatched for speedy unloading thereof.

It. is another: object to provide in connection witha spring-pressed barrel latch, means for preventing the "spring from moving. the hook excess'ivel'y in the absence of'a barrel,,tgether with means for enabling the operator to trip the latch with minimum effort to; unlatc'h a barrel carried b the truck It is a further object to provide ay'hand truck of -thecharacter referred to which is in stable equilibrium when carrying, abarreli or the/like It is. also an object of my invention-to provide a hand truck which can. be economically constructed and has a minimum of movable-parts,

'withinits own radius.

} Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear. as the description proceeds.

The invention Willbe better understood upon reference to the following. descriptionizandfiaccompanying drawings, in which:

, 533 1 is atop, frontxand sideisometric view 01 a. hand. truck constructed. in accordance with my invention.

Fig zislaside elevation of thesame. Fig, 3 shows thebarrelin.the positioninwhich gitisqhld byiheopemtor before thalatch is'appliedoz lust after the latchisj withdrawn.

' Rleterr-ihdnomz-mere particularly.- mine drawv Bl Claims. (Cl. 214--65l4) takes up little space andv will turn substantially 2 lugs; Ihaveshownrat 1101a; frame whichmaybe nra'der oi ansly'suitablerriateriail suclr aszmetal-i-barsz The frame chosenfort-illustrative purposes'm'ay comprise channel-shaped side railsl-2, having:

"flared; forward ends: I241 adjacent which are attached stub axles Hi carrying: preferably rubber rollers or wheels 18:.- Welded; or otherwiseattachedas at 2 to the siderails l2., slightlytc-the rear of the axis of the: stubaxles l6;..-is.-' a. stirrup orihanger 22 whose-arms 24 depend trom:-the-:side rails l2 and-whosebase or rung zltisdisposedonly slightly above the: level-.01? the: floor on: whichthe truckrests.

Uprights 3O-are2 weldedz'as at 32- to intermediate portions of the respective side railsrli. The lower portions of the uprights Beware bridged by parallelbars 34, .amd the 1ower end of each upright is bridged 160"8AIGI1W9IIG1 portion of th adjacent sidewall I 2by a stnutfi. The upper'endslof the uprights 30 are bridged-by a bar 38. Forwardly of the bar 3.8 the side rails: 2|-2= are-bridged by a bar' lll. The rear. endzportions-of: thera-ils 1'24 are spanned bya. preferably round bar 4|: which rigidifies-the frame and serves as-a; handle;

Reinforcing and guiding arms: 42-, which collec tivelymay be substantially in the form of a l have their divergent ends disposedl forward and secured to the: side; rails 1-2; and their adjacent ends disposed; rearward a-nd securedsubstantiall y at the intermediate portion of the bar Mounted" rearwardly of: and: on. the bars 34-,r.as-

shown at is a bearing; block 5-2- irrwhieh the spindle-54 of a caster yoke 56 by which a caster roller 58-, preferably of rubber is rotatably sup"- perted. It'is tlrusapparent that when the rollers t8 and 58 areon the: floor',.:the truck" isinstable equilibrium;

Brackets 60 secured: asat' 62' to the bridge '38 afford trunnion bearings for a rockshait- M, united by welding 'orotherwiseto a bell-crank lever tl6=,having aw forwardiy extending armv6-8 Whose forwardend: is turned down toprovide: a latch hook: l-dand is rearwardly inclined texprovide acam-face it. The lever 66 has a. depending latchetriparmsllbehindttheibridge 38, pass-- ing; downwardly throng-than:openingld definedaas by; the-caster: bearinglbloclr 52 and: ail'oop I6: whose ends may be; welded or otherwise securedto the' block, said armterminating ina. laterall -offset pedal [8 projecting beyond the loop. 'Theopeningv Idis ofvsnch extent as to permit limitedsmoltion of the lever 85. A spring 8%], having its. ends anchored re pectively to. the bar 4a and.tl1e-.1lever arm 6.8,,is under t nsion and. constantly urges the arm 68 with'its'llfl. downward. and, con.-

3 sequently, tends to hold the lower portion of the arm 12 in its rearmost position.

The truck, according to my invention, is particularly useful in an establishment such as a packing plant wherein barrels are filled with liquid alone or other substances with liquid, the level of the liquid being very close to the top chime so that only the securement of the cover to the barrel remains to be done. In such establishments the securement of the cover takes place at a point removed from the place at which the container is filled, and accordingly a hand truck is employed to remove the container to the station at which the cover is secured thereon. A barrel full of pickles and brine, or other solid substance with liquid, or liquid alone, is quite heavy, often on the order of several hundred pounds,-so that the lifting thereof should be minimized, and the liquid is easily spilled, so that tilting thereof should be minimized.

My truck is so constructed that the tilting of and the effort of lifting the filled barrel to the extent necessary to mount the barrel on and unload the barrel from the truck are reduced practically to a minimum. Moreover, by reason of the stability of the truck when loaded with the filled barrel, tilting of the barrel enroute is precluded. When a barrel is to be loaded on to a truck constructed according to my invention, the truck is rolled into a position such that the hanger rail 26 is engaged with a lower rear portion of the barrel 90, as shown in dash-dot lines at 94 in Fig. 2. At such time the top chime 92 of the barrel is spaced slightly forward of the latch hook 19, as shown at 96. The operator thereupon pushes the upper rear end portion 96 of the top chime 92 so as to tilt the same forwardly about the lower forward end of the barrel to the'slight extent, indicated at 91, necessary to enable the stirrup bar 26 to be slid under the rear end of the bottom chime 9B of the barrel, which the operator is easily able to do by pushme; the truck while he holds the barrel in this slightly tilted position, said bar being disposed at so low a level that a very slight degree of tilt, insufficient to spill the contents of the barrel, is necessary. The back of the truck during this procedure is lifted by the operator (Fig. 3) to enable the rear 96 of the top chime 92 to engage the hook cam surface II and thereby cam the hook 10 up against the resistance of the spring 80, so that the hook thereafter is snapped into latched position (Fig. 2). Thereupon the truck is lowered, causing the barrel to swing down about the upper forward edge 99 of the hanger bar 25, said edge serving as a fulcrum, and slide against the inner sides of the bars 42, to be supported by the truck in stable equilibrium, thus requiring no further attention. Now the barrel is properly supported on the truck as shown in full lines in Fig. 2. When the truck has reached its destination, the operator first tilts the rear of the truck up until the front of the barrel rests on the floor. Then he presses the pedal 18 down with his foot to withdraw the latch hook l and withdraws thetruck from under the barrel,

whereupon the barrel is allowed to swingand and thu'sthe danger of a slippery floor is reproximately 450 lbs. and yet is easily handled by one man using my truck.

It is obvious from the foregoing that the truck is equally useful in transporting closed barrels, since the cover of the barrel is disposed well below the top of the top chime.

The wheels may be rubber tired and roller or ball bearings may be used therefor.

The frame may be made of any suitable material, and, as noted above, it will be observed that the truck is simple in construction and operation.

Various modifications coming within the spir of my invention may suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, and hence I do not wish to be limited to the specific form shown or uses mentioned, except to the extent indicated in the appended claims, which are to be interpreted as broadly s the state of the art will permit.

I claim:

1. A hand truck having a pair of wheels at the fore part thereof, said wheels being mounted on stub axles, spaced substantially apart, a frame having side rails connected to said stub axles and inclined upwardly and rearwardly therefrom, a caster connected to and disposed at the rear part of said frame and serving with the aforesaid wheels to support said frame in stableequilibrium, the rear part of said frame affording a handle, a stirrup secured to the fore part of said frame and having a horizontal hanger portion extending'substantially throughout the distance between said side rails and disposed adjacent the plane of the bottoms of said wheels and caster, a spring-pressed latch adapted. to be biased into the top rear portion of the barrel when the barrel rests on said hanger portion. free of the floor, said latch having a cam surface engageable by the top chime of the barrel whereby to snap the latch into place pursuant to backward movement of the top of the barrel as the barrel is mounted onto the truck, said truck being swingable by the operator upward about said front wheels to bring the front of the bottom ofthe barrel in contact with the floor, means operative bv the operator's foot while he stands at the rear .of said framefor withdrawing said latch against the resistance of the spring, said hanger portion being disposed slightly rearward of the plumb line through the center of gravity of the said barrel when the barrel is mounted on the truck, the center of gravity of the combined truck and barrel being well to the rear of said front wheels, whereby the barrel and truck are in stable equilibrium, and means limiting rearward movement of the barrel on the truck. g '5 g. A handtriuck having two front supporting wheels and a rear wheel and comprising a frame having forward and rear portions, a handle associated with the rear-portion, a hanger associated with theforward portion and having a substantially horizontal part disposed adjacent the front wheelsbutspaced slightly above "the plane of the bottoms of said wheels, a latch engageable within the open top of a barrel restin on said hanger part, so as to prevent the barrel from tilting forward about said part, said truck being tiltable by the operator about said front wheels, means enabling the operator to retract said latch, and means biasing said latch toward latching position.

3. A hand truck comprising a frame having front and rear portions, stub axles extending outwardly from the front portion of said frame, wheels on said axles, a caster mounted adjacent the rear portion of said frame, a barrel support mounted on the front portion of said frame between said axles and including a horizontal hanger part extending substantially throughout the distance between said axles, said hanger part being disposed adjacent but spaced above the plane of the bottoms of said wheels and caster, a spring-pressed latch mounted on said frame and spring-biased toward and engageable in the top of a barrel resting on said hanger part, whereby to prevent such a barrel, arranged with its center of gravity forward of said hanger part, from tilting forward off said part, and foot-operated means operable by the operator against the resistance of the spring for shifting said latch to inoperative position when the barrel is to be loaded onto and unloaded from the truck.

4. A hand truck comprising a frame having laterally spaced rails with fore and aft portions, a handle associated with the aft portions, wheels associated with the fore portions of said rails, the space intervening said fore portions of said rails and said wheels being clear, a caster associated with the aft portion of said frame, a horizontal bar connected to said rails adjacent said space, and disposed above and adjacent the platform on which said wheels and caster rest, a bell-crank latch lever pivoted to said frame and having a depending arm with a pedal, a spring connected to said frame and lever, means for limiting movement of said pedal in response to said spring, the other arm of said lever extending forwardly and terminating in a downwardly extending hook disposed to engage the rear inner is within easy reach of the operator while the pedal is moved by the operators foot, to enable the operator, while standing at the aft portion 6 of said frame, to tilt the barrel forward in the process of mounting the barrel on the truck and to control the rearward tilting of the barrel to the platform.

5. A hand truck comprising a frame, at least three wheels associated with said frame for supporting it in stable equilibrium, means associated with said frame for supporting a container on said truck, with the bottom of the container in close proximity to the platform on which said wheels rest, said means including a springpressed latch having a hook spring-pressed into engagement within and adjacent the rear of the top chime of the container, means preventing movement of said hook in such direction substantially beyond said position, said hook, when in said position, projecting a relatively small distance into the container, whereby the movement of said hook necessary to retract the same from said container is relatively short, means operable by the operator at the same time that he grasps the upper rear portion of said chime, to retract said hook and permitting the operator at the same time to control tilting of the barrel onto the platform.

6. A hand truck comprising at least three wheels and a frame supported thereon, means associated with said frame for supporting a barrel or the like at a level closely proximate to the platform on which the truck rests, a bell-crank latch lever pivoted on said frame, means limiting movement of said lever to a relatively small angle, one arm of said lever extending forward and having a hook projectable into the top chime of a barrel and engageable with the rear portion of such chime when the barrel is supported on said frame, said lever being biased to latching position, and means within easy reach of the operator for enabling him to retract said hook without interfering with his grasping the upper rear part of the container to prevent the container from toppling upon withdrawal of said hook.

HARRY SIEGAL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

